Buckingham Palace marks late Queen Elizabeth II, Britain's longest reigning Monarch's 97th birthday
When Her Majesty was born in April 1926, Princess Elizabeth and her family did not expect that she would one day become Queen. Following the abdication of her uncle King Edward VIII in 1936, her father acceded to the throne.
FollowBuckingham Palace on Friday (April 21) marked what would have been the late Queen Elizabeth II's 97th birthday with a previously unseen photograph of the monarch with 10 of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
The photograph, clicked by Catherine, Princess of Wales (Kate Middleton), was taken last year at the late monarch's Scottish residence of Balmoral Castle just before she passed away on September 8.
The Queen is seated in the centre surrounded by Prince William and Kate's children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, along with her other great-grandchildren Mia, Lucas and Lena Tindall, and Savannah and Isla Phillips.
Standing at the back are the Queen's grandchildren Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor and James, Earl of Wessex, the children of her youngest son Prince Edward. "Today we remember the incredible life and legacy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, on what would have been her 97th birthday," Buckingham Palace said in a statement.
When Her Majesty was born in April 1926, Princess Elizabeth and her family did not expect that she would one day become Queen. Following the abdication of her uncle King Edward VIII in 1936, her father acceded to the throne.
"When King George VI died in February 1952, Princess Elizabeth became Queen Elizabeth II when she was just 25. Her Majesty went on to be Britain's longest reigning Monarch, the only one in history to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee," it said.
The late Queen traditionally spent the warmer months between August and October at Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire in Scotland, where she was at the time of her death last year.
